One of the biggest questions most business owners have is whether or not their business is going to work. The short answer to that question is that nobody knows if a business is going to work.
If there’s one thing entrepreneurship is about, it’s risk. When you make a start in a new business, you take a chance and you’re taking a chance that it won’t work out as much as you’re taking a chance that it will. In the same vein, every time you’re behind the wheel of your car, you take a risk because you can control your car as much as you want, but you can’t control the outside elements.
The difference with entrepreneurship is that you have to work a lot harder and longer to find out if things are going to work for you, and that can be terrifying to a lot of people. It should scare you, though. Nobody should move into a business without feeling a little bit afraid because feeling fear means that you know that you have something to lose.
This can be your propeller to push you further into success because you know that you have something to lose and you want to fight back against that feeling. If you’re starting out in entrepreneurship, you need to learn that there will be risks that you take. There will be highs and there will be lows, especially if you don’t know where to start. You’re going to very quickly ask what is a Total Addressable Market? And then you’re going to learn that this is the total number of companies that need your service, and find out that you do have a natural place to begin! Starting a new business means a lot of very long nights at start, but once you get started there are signs to tell you whether your business will be a success, and we’ve got ten of them for you below.
- People sell what you’re selling and they’re doing it successfully. You wouldn’t think that this is going to be a good sign that your business will be successful, but really it is. If other people have made a business out of selling what you can sell, then you’re definitely onto something. Watch what they do to discover things that you could also do and see how their activities help them to reach their target market. Rinse and repeat this and you’re going to be a success.
- There are always people coming back to buy the same thing. Once you’ve started sticking your toe in the water to sell some things, you’re going to notice whether or not customers are coming back to get more. For example, if you go to the farmers market and you taste some jam and you enjoy it, you’re going to go back again to get some more. People are going to do the same thing with your business. So if you notice the same customers coming back time and again, you know that you’ve made them happy.
- You know how to implement systems and train others on how to use them. Once you start expanding on your business and you can hire a team to help you, then you know that you’re going to start finding success. Once you get things underway, you’ll want to start doing things at work over and over again. So no matter what type of business you have, you have a system in place and you can train others on how to do it, which means more people will be selling your service and on it goes.
- You fail a lot. Failure is the biggest indicator of business success because you’ve tried something and it didn’t work, so you keep trying again and again. If you are failing in your business, then you are doing something right because you’re going to learn from each of these failures and you’re further willing to put the work in to learn even more.
- You know exactly how to manage your energy as a new entrepreneur. You’re going to be burnt out very quickly if you don’t allow yourself some rest. If you know how much sleep you need and you get it, and you know how much exercise you need and you get it. But your business is still up in the air and it’s still plate spinning and you’re still pushing forward, then you’re doing the right thing. Knowing how to manage yourself is easier than knowing how to manage your business. So if you can do one, you can definitely do the other.
6. You’re not afraid to reinvest. Any profits that are coming through your doors are going straight back into your business and you’re not afraid of this. Investing money in your business isn’t spending money on your business because what you’re doing is making sure that every single dollar you spend is going to return that much or more overtime. You’re embracing what you do, and you’re paying back into it so that you can grow.
7. You have a good support system. Having a good support system outside of your employees is so important. As an entrepreneur. You need to know that you can do it, and having other people believe in you can often be what you need to spare you on. You’re going to doubt yourself time and again when you start a new business, but it doesn’t have to stay that way.
8. You are consistent in your sales strategy. You’re also consistent in your marketing strategy, in your training strategies. You are consistent in what you’re doing and people can see that. If you embrace some form of consistency, you’re going to stay in business longer than you think.
9. You simply love it. You know what you do, you love what you do and you know why you’re doing it. Some days you’re going to hate it, but when you hate it, you have to keep going back to why you started in the first place. Are you putting away money to be comfortable in your old age or are you in business to get rich? Are you putting your kids to college or is this your passion project no matter what it is? Finding your why and defining it can make all the difference.
10. You still have a personal life in the first year. This is a point all in itself. Ask any business owner how much of a personal life they had in their first year of starting out. That should give you an indication of whether you’re going to be successful.
